ART MUSEUM KNOWN FOR HISTORIC ORGANIC TRANSFORMATION [caption id="attachment_5020" align="alignleft" width="324" caption="Glenstone plans to add the position of grounds superintendent. "][/caption] For nearly two years the SafeLawns Foundation has helped coordinate one of the most historically significant organic landscape transformations in North America. We are now being asked to help find the project’s n ...

Few industries around the world can point to a single weekend as the date of their origin. Sure, lawn care has been around ever since kings ordered peasants to scythe their meadows for comfortable strolling, but in terms of the modern lawn care industry it really all began during the second weekend of April of 1967 — the first time the Masters golf tournament was broadcast live to America in full technicolor green. ...

Professionals and Homeowners Invited to 2-Day Symposium They are the major issues facing the lawn and garden industry on our continent today: How do you deal with fertilizer runoff from lawns? How can you safely save your trees in the face of exotic invasive insects? How can golf courses deliver championship conditions and still be environmentally friendly? [caption id="attachment_4900" align="alignleft" wi ...

Make it a Point to Visit Maryland Museum in 2012 At the core of transformative learning theory, according to Wikipedia, is the process of "perspective transformation" with three dimensions: psychological, convictional and behavioral. True transformation in this world, according to many sources, is rare. It has taken place, however, at a magnificent facility known as Glenstone, an art museum in Potomac, Md. ...

SafeLawns, Surfriders Share Common Goals of a Healthier Planet [caption id="attachment_4709" align="alignleft" width="563" caption="The SafeLawns Foundation and the Surfrider Foundation share the common goals of keeping the water clean. (Geoff Glenn photo)"][/caption] If there's one truism we've found as we begin our seventh year at the SafeLawns Foundation, it's to expect the unexpected. To that end, last ...

The SafeLawns fall tour of the Midwest unveiled numerous examples of landscape sustainability in recent days. Hosted by our sponsoring partners at Calcium Products/NatraTurf and Purple Cow Organics, we visited installations at state capitols, college campuses, golf courses, public gardens and private residences during our whirlwind tour. Here are just a few examples: [caption id="attachment_4549" align="ali ...

Spurred by the success of pilot projects at Bowdoin College in Maine and Harvard University in Massachusetts, several other college campuses across the nation have turned aside chemicals on their malls and promenades in favor of a more natural approach. In today's Philadelphia Inquirer, Virginia Smith chats with a groundskeeper who is delighted to have made the switch to organics: http://www.philly.com/phil ...

As reported here throughout the past few months, the SafeLawns Foundation and the Glenstone Foundation are partnering with the University of Maryland's world-renowned turfgrass department on a long-term study to review the efficacy of organic lawn care. After months of planning, researchers broke ground in the last two weeks at test plots, both at the university's turfgrass research station and also at Glen ...

New Laws Wrongfully Restrict Organic Fertilizers [caption id="attachment_4440" align="alignleft" width="360" caption="After more than 70 years in business, Milorganite is finding its product illegal as a lawn fertilizer in some states due to the 2 percent phosphorus in the bag. Other organic fertilizers are fighting the same issue."][/caption] The coming year is shaping up as a major battleground and your l ...

Out on the road last week after an extended period at home or in my office, I was reminded that not EVERYONE understands the principles of organic lawn care. It's often easy to get comfortable in one's cocoon and it's useful to be reminded that, many times, new ideas are worth repeating. So I thought I'd begin this week by trotting out some of the principles of our organic lawn program, beginning with an ex ...